Resource islands provide a safe heaven for plants to grow in the desert. Usually it happens under the canopy of a legume “nurse tree”. The resource island contains a large number of micro- and macro organisms, better water conditions, improve nutrition for plants and shadow from strong desert sun.
In the Sonoran desert young plants rarely grow in open lands. This cartoon was produced for a chapter in popular science book to be published in 2012 entitled “de-Bashan, L.E., Vazquez, P., Lopez, B.R., Moreno, M., Hernandez, J.-P., Bacilio, M., Leyva, L.A., and Bashan, Y. 2012. Los mas pequeños y los
mas grandes:¿Qué los microorganismos ayudan a las plantas del desierto? In: ¿Qué se mueve en el desierto?: la palpitante vida del matorral. (Eds): de la Luz, J.L. and Blazquez, C. Published by: CIBNOR, La Paz, Mexico”.
Graphical design and computer execution: Patricia Vazquez
Idea and general planning: Yoav Bashan.